At Ashley Hall, we know that reading is more than decoding words on a page or memorization—learning to read is a joyful, inquiry-based journey. Rooted in our Reggio-Emilia inspired curriculum in the Early School and supported by our International Baccalaureate approach in the Lower School, reading begins with children’s natural curiosity and love of story.

The first stages of reading development are full of discovery. Just as our daily routines emphasize belonging, exploration, and reflection, children’s early encounters with books foster independence, connection, and imagination. Because every child develops differently, we allow ample time and space for reading readiness to unfold naturally.

Stage 1: Pre-Reading / Emergent Readers

The earliest stage of reading begins when children show an interest in books—voluntarily picking one up, turning the pages, or talking about the illustrations. These early gestures form the foundation for a lifelong love of reading, and in the Pre-Primary and Primary years, we devote special attention to nurturing this stage. 

In pre-primary, one way we build reading skills is through songs and nursery rhymes, which help enforce skills such as rhyming, pattern recognition, rhythm, sound recognition, and a larger vocabulary.  While learning fun songs like “Five Green and Speckled Frogs,” they are also building the foundation for reading!

– Katie Paulson, Early School Faculty Member

In our classrooms, books are about so much more than reading. When they pick up a book, the children are imagining, questioning, discussing, and opening whole new worlds of possibilities.” 

– Katherine Banks, Early School Faculty Member

At this stage, children:
    • Understand that print has meaning
    • Become familiar with handling books and turning pages
    • Comment on illustrations with guidance
    • Start to recognize letters and their sounds
    • Pretend to “read” a story aloud
    • Begin to rhyme and make playful connections to oral language
    • Relate stories to their own lived experiences
How families can support at home:
    • Read aloud exciting and dynamic books
    • Share nursery rhymes and poetry with repetitive text
    • Take a “picture walk” before reading to notice illustrations and story structure
    • Model predictions and wonderings as you read together
    • Ask questions and encourage your child to connect the story to their own world
    • Read wordless books to nurture imagination and storytelling

The goal of this stage is simple yet powerful: to help children fall in love with books so that reading feels like joy, not a chore.

Stage 2: Emergent / Early Readers

As confidence grows, children begin to see themselves as readers. They experiment with memorizing, predicting, and making sense of what they see on the page. We tend to see this happening more in our Pre-Kindergarten classes, with children beginning to recognize letters on signs around campus or spotting sight words they come across regularly. 

Play doesn’t have to connect directly to a literacy activity to support literacy development. Play is naturally so literacy-rich–whether it’s a tea party in the classroom’s dramatic play area, superheroes on the playground, or building homes for animals with blocks, children are creating narratives and storytelling, which is a key component of emergent literacy. Even something as seemingly simple as engaging in conversation with teachers and peers–perhaps taking turns sharing what they did over the weekend supports literacy skills, as children are recalling and retelling events. They are building comprehension, practicing sequencing, and developing phonemic awareness. In my classroom, I often like to use a big sheet of paper to write down the things the children say. It’s important that we (adults) model writing. I may gently point out “this is an “A,” and identify children whose names start with the letter A, and tell them the sound the letter A makes. Later, during a nature walk, the children will autonomously identify letters on signs around campus. I also love to offer wordless picture books in my classroom. These are fantastic literacy tools that teachers can use regardless of what age group they teach. When a child looks at a book with no words, they are encouraged to practice a crucial literacy skill–the skill of inferring. They must examine the setting, the characters’ facial expressions, and other implicit details to understand what’s happening and predict what may happen next. 

– Annie Bellettiere, Early School Faculty Member 

At this stage, children:
    • Memorize favorite parts of stories
    • Take risks by attempting new word
    • Begin to recognize common sight words
    • Use illustrations and context clues to tell the story
    • Read for meaning and predict unknown words
    • Play with sounds through rhyming and phoneme changes
How families can support at home:
    • Continue reading aloud daily
    • Introduce new vocabulary naturally, in context
    • Focus on letters in meaningful words, like their own name
    • Read signs, labels, and print in the environment together
    • Encourage guesses and predictions—mistakes are part of learning!

Beyond the Stages

Reading is more than word recognition. It is about constructing meaning, making inferences, and engaging imagination. Children are developing strategies such as:

    • Using prior knowledge
    • Predicting and visualizing
    • Asking and answering questions
    • Summarizing and synthesizing ideas

These strategies mirror the inquiry-driven learning of our classrooms, where children’s voices and interests shape the direction of study.

At Ashley Hall, we see reading as a shared adventure—between child, teacher, and family. By celebrating each step of the journey, we empower children to see themselves as capable, joyful readers who are ready to explore the world of ideas.